1905 Kono Barei Chigusa No Hana One Thousand Flowers
These woodblock prints are from
the 1905 edition of Bairei’s Kono Barei Chigusa No Hana or One Thousand Flowers. Bairei was a highly renowned
artist in the bird and flower painting school (kacho-ga) in the imperial city
and old capital of Japan, Kyoto. For Bairei, it was a long journey, as he
started his painting studies at the age of 8 in the Maruyama School of
naturalist painting. At 27, he transferred to the Nanga School, which embraces
the painting of natural history and botanical subjects in an expressive and
less restrained manner. He was instrumental in establishing the Kyoto School of
Painting, finally retiring to open his own studio to other painters.
His woodblock prints of birds
and flowers are among the most revered and famous in Japan, where Bairei is
compared to Audubon. He placed his subjects in their natural surroundings in
compositions of great beauty, skill and accuracy. It was the height of the
Japanese woodblock printing of the late 1800’s (Meiji Period). Bairei’s skill
as an artist, combined with the superb craftsmanship of the wood block carvers
and printers of the era to produce a work of breath taking beauty.
Each woodblock print measure
is in good condition, measuring approximately 9 3/8 inches by 6 1/2 inches on lightly
toned paper. Two separate prints are in each lot, issues sequentially. They are authentic antique woodblock prints purchased in Kyoto, Japan.
About Antique Prints
We try to select antique prints in the best possible condition, with
as few defects as possible. Nevertheless,
these prints are often hundreds of years old and show the effects of time, as
noted below
1. Most common is paper darkening, or toning, resulting in the
paper becoming shades darker, from off white to light brown. We rarely offer very toned prints, unless the
issue is particularly scarce.
2. Text offset occurs over
time, when the text page is against the image and ink from the text makes lines
on the image. Conversely, image offset
occurs when the hand coloring transfers slightly to the text. Again, we rarely offer heavily offset prints.
3. Spotted or foxing is
also common due to age and handling over a long period of time and while a small
degree of foxing is common and acceptable, we avoid extensively foxed prints.
SHIPPING
Free shipping is first class and we pack the prints flat and well protected in foam core, unless they are large, when we very carefully roll them with several protective layers. They roll out flat very quickly.
PAYMENT
We are delighted to combine shipments to save on postage. If you wish to combine, please wait to pay until your last purchase up to 4 days. We ship within one day any lots that you have paid for.
RETURNS
Items May be Returned for a Full Refund within 30 days.